It’s the height of Summer 2019, and Honolulu is having an art and design moment, with interesting shows scattered around town, and an installation featuring local designers and makers at South Shore Market. HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports that public spaces in the Market are now the Shape of the Wave to Come gallery-- featuring a new wave of local creatives.

Despite concerns, last Saturday’s Keiki Swap Meet at the Children’s Discovery Center went off without a hitch, the Center says, right in a park known for homeless activity. Homeless residents in the area have begun holding weekly cleanups, attending Neighborhood Board meetings, and reaching out to the Center, and others. Here, meet Aura Reyes, a leader of Ka Po‘e o Kaka‘ako, a hui working toward a permanent community shelter arrangement.

This week, while a delegation of four Pacific atoll nations lobbied President Trump in Washington, Hawai‘i's Chip Fletcher headed to one of those nations, the Marshall Islands, to keynote a conference on their greatest concern: climate change. Just back, Fletcher reports the options the Marshalls face could be considered in Hawai‘i.

Officials with the City and County of Honolulu want to build more affordable rental housing. But rather than directly fund construction, they have prepared a package of incentives to make those type of projects more appealing to developers.

Hawaii's oldest grocery cooperative has launched a fundraising campaign to save itself from closing. At the end of 2018, Kokua Market was on the brink of financial insolvency. The company’s governing board elected a new chairwoman who has launched a last-ditch effort to reorganize the business for survival in the highly competitive market for health food.

These are busy days for O‘ahu’s Department of Planning and Permitting. There are issues with so-called monster homes and the housing shortage. And there’s new attention on the slow turn-around on building permits.

Planning for Honolulu’s civic center, the Neal Blaisdell complex, started before Hawai‘i was even a state. The concert hall, arena and exhibition hall were completed in 1964, when O‘ahu’s population was less than half what it is today. Now, a major redesign is aiming for a revitalized community space that attracts global artists in their prime. HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.

Chinese new year has always been huge in Honolulu and the Chinatown Street Fair with smoky noisy lion dances and street food you can only get there, has been a part of it--- for the last 35 years at least. People were stunned and disappointed when 2018 celebrations were canceled the week of the event. HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports on how it all happened.

How does immigration work when it works well? Perhaps Okinawans in Hawai‘i provide a good example. HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports on the Hawai‘i Okinawan Restaurants Project on view now at Honolulu City Hall.

Last year, the craft beer market continued its thirteen year upward trend, topping out at $23.5 billion dollars according to the national Brewers’ Association. In the U.S. as a whole, craft brew production doubled in the last 5 years to reach nearly 18 million barrels last year. As part of HPR’s ongoing series on craft brewing, Noe Tanigawa reports O‘ahu is tracking that pattern of growth.

Condominium sales have had a boost lately in Honolulu. It turns out that home buyers are turning to apartments instead of single-family homes. Pacific Business news editor in chief A. Kam Napier, has more.

The Honolulu Rail Transit Project is facing an April 30th deadline to come up with a funding source to complete the downtown segment of the 20-mile system. As HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports, the political stakes seem high but the decision appears to be relatively simple.

“If rail is not completed it will constitute a real embarrassment to an entire generation of Hawai’i politicians and leaders.”

Most want to live in a people-friendly environment with open space, affordable quality housing, and even preserved farmland for sustainable agriculture. Urban design can be a grassroots activity, with communities participating with design professionals. In Honolulu, that doesn't always seem to happen. Join us as we look at who is shaping Honolulu. Panelists: Jennifer Darrah, UH Lecturer and Graduate Faculty Affiliate, UH Department of Urban and Regional Planning Prof. Luciano Minerbi, and from the same department, PhD Candidate, Annie Koh.

It’s 30 days to the Primary Election, August 9th. The non-partisan Honolulu City Council race to fill the vacancy left by Stanley Chang, who is running for Congress, is in full swing in the state’s wealthiest county council district. HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports.

Kaimuki is a little town, mauka of Diamond Head, on the east side of Honolulu proper. According to Pukui, Elbert and Mookini, Kaimuki means literally, the ti oven, because menehune cooked ti leaves there. HPR’s Noe Tanigawa offers this community portrait.

July 19th, there's a Third Friday Celebration in Kaimuki from 5-9pm. Find out more: